Dyeing and Other Surface Media Notes
Dyeing Animal Fibers with Wilton Cake Icing Dye.
Michele Rook, a site visitor and knitting teacher from Georgia recently sent me some photos of some of her yarn which she dyed with Wilton cake icing colors. I'm posting them here, along with some basic directions for how to use these colors for dyeing fiber.
Wilton cake icing dyes come in 28 hues and are non-toxic. (The Wilton website has sample pictures of all colors: http://www.wilton.com/) In contrast to the Kool-aid colors, which often mix to form muddy hues, the Wilton colors blend well together. Unfortunately, they only work on animal fibers, including silk. Plus, in my experience, silk takes up the dye less readily than other animal fibers, thus requiring the use of more dye per pot than a fiber like wool or camel.
One question yet to be answered is how the colors age, particularly those exposed to light and a great deal of washing. I've yet to find a clear answer on this subject. It may be worthwhile to dye a sample, divide it in two, and put one half in a sunny window for a few months and the other in a dark drawer, in order to compare.
There are several methods going around the internet for using these dyes. I'll share the one I learned in my community education class. Start with 4 - 8 ounces of yarn or spinning fiber, and soak it in a pan just covered with water and a dash of white vinegar.
Prepare your dye: for each 4 oz. of fiber, use about 1/2 tsp. of dye mixed into a few ounces of hot water until it is dissolved. I like to do this in the blender to get rid of clumps, which can give a mottled effect (which you might find desirable). If you want a space dyed effect, prepare several colors.
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For dyeing with one color, add some tepid water to a pot large enough to hold your yarn; use enough water to cover your yarn once it's in the pot. I also add a dash of white vinegar as well. Add the mixed dye, and then squeeze the water out of your soaking yarn and add that too. Slowly raise heat to a near boil (about 170 degrees) and simmer for about 30 minutes. Most of the color should be exhausted from the dyebath at that point. To finish up, turn off heat, let the dyebath cool to room temperature, then rinse out with tepid water. Roll fiber up in a towel and squeeze, then hang to dry.
For dyeing with more than one color, you will need a large metal baking pan. Set the pan on the stove so that it is astride two burners (but don't turn them on yet!). Squeeze out the water from your soaking yarn/fiber, and arrange it in the pan. Barely cover with tepid water and a dash of vinegar. Now you will add your different dye colors to the fiber. I either use a bulb baster to apply them where I want, or a spoon or a large syringe. If your pan stays still and you don't stir much, these color areas will remain separate, and blend at the edges. It's not an exact science, and it helps to play around with it a few times.
As the water starts to simmer, you can mash the color into the fiber to work it in. The less water that's in the pan, the less the color will disperse into other color areas. After adding the colors, raise your heat and continue the directions as given for the one-color technique. As the water simmers, it will rise up and bubble around the fiber, and you can get good coverage even though you don't have a lot of water in the pan.
Please note! Novice fiber workers should know that when working with animal fibers, quickly changing water temperature from cold to hot or vice versa leads to felting. That's why we gradually raise the heat on the stove, and then let the pot cool slowly to room temperature before rinsing.